A Public Service Announcement from The 99%

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83 thoughts on “A Public Service Announcement from The 99%”

    • “We the middle class” is precisely why so many have dropped out of “the 99%.” Throughout our history, each time that the richest few obtained too much power over govt, the poor and middle classes united to successfully push back, to the benefit of both. Not this time. This time, we see a movement that has turned its back on the post-middle class/poor. Poverty (much less, the audacious notion of poverty relief) was erased from discussion almost from the start. Millions of Americans today can only wonder, “If you have a steady job AND are still in the middle class, what are you complaining about?” The “99%” decided to divide and conquer itself.

      • Just because one is in the middle class does not mean one does not fight for others who wish to regain what was rightfully his or hers.I did not lose my home but I fight for those that did,I did not lose my job,I’m retired now but I fight for those that lost their jobs.I also fight for students high cost of education and their debts. I fight for those that cannot afford high cost health insurance. If you want to belong and thrive than you must fight for each other to exist.

        • Right on, David W.! You are describing me,too! Just because we are safely in the middle-class, though you never can be 100% safe, doesn’t mean we will turn our backs on those who are fighting to share what we have and what the 1% are trying to continue to take from us. We are all in this together!! I am a Progressive Christian, trying to live true to the words Jesus spoke.

        • Yes, in spite of having a good job, owniing my home,being able to send my 2 children to college, etc I owe it to my fellow Americans( who struggle to get by) to stand up for their rights and preserve the American Dream for all!

      • You’ve got to be kidding. I hear about issues of poverty and homelessness all the time from our local Occupiers. “This time, we see a movement that has turned its back on the post-middle class/poor” is not remotely true from where I stand here in Albuquerque.

        • DON’T LET ONE DISILLUSIONED PERSON STOP THE FIGHT. Recruit everyone you can. Wake up those in the middle class supporting the 1% through ignoance

    • We all need to take back our country. But what crooks will you replace Congress with? If we don’t change our system away from capitalism and to some more direct form of government where we have a way of holding people accountable other than at elections then it will end up right back where we are today.

      • I agree, but what will you substitute it with,? A return to Christian principles, would be a good place to start.

      • But don’t discount the power of the vote. I think/hope the Dems learned a lesson, will clean up their act, get back the Congress and LISTEN TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!

        • PS I’m glad God does it for you, but in politics, religion seems too many times to be more part of the problem that part of the solution.

  2. The intro of the email says we want to return to the economy we had before the Crash. No, we don’t! THAT economy was based on millions of fraudulent or robosigned mortgages, credit swaps, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collusions, false and whitewashed corporate credit ratings — basically the scions of Wall Street and their collaborators running rampant with little or no government regulations. We WANT and NEED an economy based on full employment, a robust middle class, hundreds of thousands of new jobs in alternative energies, and honesty and integrity and the observance of proper codes of conduct by business and government! We must adamantly refuse a “new” and “rebuilt” economy that just returns to the ugly charade of funny money and false corporate idolatry, We want JOBS not illusions.

    • HEAR, HEAR. NO GOING BACK TO ANYTHING!! We need new and reformed. I also don’t like the lyrics. “Give us what we want” is not a responsible reply to the economic condition brought on by the lack of regulation and oversight of the Bush administrations.

    • How about population control! It’s as plain as the nose on your face, The corporations want a large unemployed work force so they can push wages lower.
      Everything has been mechanized, a good education is needed to get a job that pays decent wages. Yet they want that cost raised too.

    • We must stop exporting jobs. Allow people to organize and protect themselves from corrupt corporate dealings that leverage the downturn into lower wages while companies are cash rich with 0% loans form our govt with our tax money. It’s a sham and we are paying for it. Wealth is being transfered to the wealthiest among us at the expense of the middle class and working poor. Your home values have gone down, your 401K have gone down, now Ryan an dthe COns want your Social Security and Medicare to go down to so more tax breaks can be given to the wealthy. The US is turning intoa 2 class society. Stop your middle class neighbors from voting Republican. All day long they listen to BS from FOX News blaming everybody but the guilty.

  3. Please make the tax code fair & so that millionaires & billionaires at leas pay the same tax rate as the middle class it’s only fair,
    Sincerely,
    Matthew J. Dann

      • The majority of problems could be stopped if the Government in their divine wisdom would remove the cap on Social Security, Roll the tax rates back to those in President Eisenhower Times, Place a high export tax on Energy leaving this country, stop “Free Trade” and give us single payer Health insurance like every other civilized country.. Stop wars for OIL and invest in America instead of giving away everything in foreign aid to countries that hate us.. (because of the wars for Oil)

    • I disagree with your second statement, who will get legislation passed unless it goes through Congress and signed by Obama?

      • President Obama has to bow to the will of the loudest voice of the people. It is his nature and job by law to do that. He is for the 99%, but we must assuredly speak louder than the Tea Party folks now. In his position, he is not a dictator in full control, he is at our mercy, and he is in control of many that protect us.
        Replacing congress with progressives like ourselves is crucial. If they pass positive actions like the full “American Jobs Act of 2011″ we would be much better off today. There is a lot we must do immediately. We had a great influence on our world in the infancy of the movement, now were a bit more grown and experienced.

        • And nothing will as long as these crazy Republicans serve in congress. Our hope & intent is to elect good people who will serve Democracy & the will of people…only then will we get real change!

    • We have to figure out who we mean when we say, “We the people.” Does that include the rich? The poor? Is it, as it appears to be, merely a term used for/by the middle class? Employed or unemployed, and if unemployed, which group? Just those who still have enough money to get by? And so on. It’s a new morning in America, as Reagan so famously warned us, and we really don’t know who “The American people” are.

      • Seems to me a simple point: the responsible representation of the wishes of the entire population which does include, like it or not, the greater good for the most affected. But that’s just my point of view.

  5. Nationalize insurance companies and pay for National Single Payer plan.
    Support Our Troops! PTSD. ANYTHING THEY NEED, AS LONG AS THEY NEED! Stop the Wars! (Iran, Iraq?), Afghanistan! And Mexico! Legalize Medical M. and industrial Hemp! TAX IT! Pay the debt down by TAXING THE 1% ers! And JAIL FOR BANKSTERS! Green Energy!

    Start with a FORECLOSURE MORATORIUM.

    • Iraq ended before the Xmas holiday, thanks to Obama stepping in last year

      • We can thank Obama for not knowing what he was getting himself into. He should never have run for office if he didn’t have the balls to do what is necessary to fix the problems.

        VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE, not for the wanna be celebrities.

        • Sadly, I doubt that one person has that much power or wisdom to “fix” the Middle East situation. I certainly do not think it is our duty to do it. They are sovereign nations & that cannot be fixed by one nation. I am a human rights supporter & think the United Nations must act in concert to uphold decency in the treatment of humans everywhere, but i do not agree that war is the way to do it.

        • You have to choose the lessor of the evil parties. Dems have some issues and problem childs but every single Con is against the middle class. Write to your senators and congressmen. Complain loudly. Badger the Cons everyday. Make them fear for their cushy jobs then vote them out anyway

      • Um, no, the Iraq war ended because Bush signed a treaty that said it WOULD end at that time, and Iraq held Obama’s feet to the fire and said “get out.” But many contractors are still there.

        • No bid contracts during Bush era with our tax dollars. Halliburton is a huge blood sucker of America’s taxes and wealth. DICK Cheney is crooked as can be.

    • Pay up for what, and to whom? People have simply grown tired of being drained out by a plutocracy. The fact is, we really cannot afford to keep our wealthy in the manner to which they have grown accustomed.

      • Very true. Every nation that has grown too top heavy without restitution and forgiveness of debts of the poor has fallen. “Pride goeth before a fall.”

  8. Blah Blah Blah and a whole lot of talk that will never happen. There is a reason things are the way they are and always have been and always will be since the beginning of time. The 1% control everything and make the rules to suit themselves. NOTHING the 99% can do about it before or now. Voting only brings in more politicians that are funded by the 1% to do what they want. Try to rise up and you will be arrested. Try to vote them out and it just brings more of the same types with different names. Obama promised change and he was right… The change was the name of the person in the White House….nothing more. Good luck with your protests! Occupy Wall Street accomplished exactly NOTHING.

    • Nothing in his life worth fighting for except to complain to those who are. Those who sit on a couch in defeat accomplish nothing to impact the majority in society. Unfortunately we have enough of them in Congress.

      • Yep. They should all be not only removed from offices where they swore to fulfill their jobs to represent the people’s interests but they should be arrested for fraud for not performing those jobs as well. What they haven’t attended to is criminal behavior. Obama has had the misfortune of a deadlocked & totally selfish congress that has sacrificed the needs of the people to the interests of the lobbyists for the large corporations. It is shameful.

    • The 99% need to keep making noice, though. The 99% needs to convince the powers that be that they (the 99%) WILL vote, and the 99% needs some prominent leadership. I’m not going to step up and support a crowd of people that cry “give us what we want” no matter who does the background music.

    • The 1% should give it up or the 99% will take it from them. It is inevitable. Resistance is futile. If they won’t play fair, they can’t play at all. Equality, economic justice and democracy beats a stacked house. Greed threatens the survival of capitalism. Unbridled accumulation will be met first with resistance, leading to totalitarianism met with sacrifice as our jails become overflowing, and eventually pacifism will no longer give way to the violence and the only reasonable response will be revolution. Millions may give their lives until finally heads of a few of the 1% will roll.
      This time, it will not be the slaves escaping Egypt, for they will inherit the land and all that is in it. The fruits of the laborers will be enjoyed by the laborers. The overseers will be gone along with those whom they serve. The shareholders will no longer be the investors, but the laborers. Cooperatives will replace corporations. Wealth will be measured in terms of relationships and networks of cooperation.

    • No need to be so down on Obama, he’s been pushing against a brick wall since Day One, even when he had the congress, he had the filibuster – the obstructionists were determined to NEVER give him anything. Nothing! He did amazingly better than anyone could have done in his place. Now, if we can get a filibuster-proof Senate, and take back the House, Obama will make the Changes happen. Vote for him and all Democrats and together, with us, the 99% as his backup, we’ll reap the benefits. If left to the lunatic fringe tbagger/republikkklan/cons, we’re doomed. Fight the big money and stop it. Fight Voter-Supppression and stop it. Never give up, we can out-think them, out-smart them, out-live them, AND WIN. GO 99%! TAKE THEM DOWN!

      • Agree! Action is now needed & your list is good. Think of how the TeaBaggers organized & voted in their crazies to cause this gridlock. Occupy Wall Street has changed the narrative. Now each of us can support our causes by taking action with the 99%. Help elect good people in your state. If everyone does their part, there is hope to save our Democracy.

    • Time will tell and there will always be naysayers. At any rate, as long as this sort of attitude prevails, there is little to no hope of changing anything, ever. Interesting point of view to share, though, so thanks for that.

    • Defeatest attitude is out of place. If you think you can’t do something you are probably right, but if you think you can do something you are also probably right. Get your head straight.

  9. Hey Robert, I hear ya ~ falling into a kind of rabbit hole of cynicism is something I can understand, I do it myself to varying degrees. Yes: We still haven’t made major wins, and sometimes the road ahead looks dark and tough to plot–but this is what it always looks like when you’re fighting for transformative change. Whether it was the civil rights movement, or suffragettes, or the Arab Spring, folks faced tremendously uphill battles, where the view for the great majority of time was quite bleak. But they plodded on, pushed the movement forward, and took some faith that indeed “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” (MLK). And when folks inevitably felt some despair, they squared up with it and used those moments to learn, reflect, and gather friends for support. I’ve found that despair isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a chance to become a stronger activist, with deeper resolve.

    If real change was easy to win, we’d live in a utopia. The tough reality is it’s tough work — with no real guarantee of the outcome. But on we plod, knowing there’s a chance for the 99%, knowing there’s a legacy of possibility, and knowing a beautifully alive, morally awakened movement is all around us striving for the same.

    Good luck friend! I wish you the best during what sounds like a tough but amazing part of your personal journey to be going through.

  10. I believe in the 99% But I believe we need to go after Congress and stop all their funding from big business and the 1%. We need to start more big demostrations in Wasington like the old war protest. Plus get the T- Baggers to understand that if Congress
    would cut half of the spending on tax subsities for big business and military we would be alot better off. Let some of these other countries play world police officer for awhile.

  11. In the army I learned what,”Band Of brothers” really meant,the same can hold true with the 99ers including our sisters. Women are now fighting for their rights more than ever.

  12. . . . much like “driving a car” is a privilege and NOT a right, so is doing business and benefitting from our nation’s economy. there are responsibilities and issues of proportionate payment for benefits received. let’s try to keep the truly evil of the 1% from buying their way out of that responsibility and accountability. guess who will eventually pay the costs if they are able to buy their way out? . . . and how was that money acquired ? ? ?

  14. Look around people. The bankers, investment firms, and “the market” have captured our lives. Everything depends on keeping the market going. Bailout Wall Street, bailout European banks, … meanwhile the socialist leaders of Greece, Spain, Portugal, have been removed and replaced by Goldman Sachs employees. Until we tell these bloodsuckers we don’t them or their stinking market, nothing will change.

  15. WE are responsible for voting in thieves and those who would desire reelection over the rights of the people they should be protecting and serving.

    WE need to place our votes for equity. For the right solutions.

  16. Those of you that want to take more money from the rich had better take a math class . If you took all their money it still wouldnt be enough to sustain the rate of expeditures of the govt. Those of you that want fundalmental change better wake up and realize that both party are complicit in dividing the people so that they can continue to violate the constitution and sell the people out. Is eating a dog or strapping one to the roof of a car a REAL issue ? You better decide what the real issues are and educate yourself on them and quite being a follower that goes for what everthey put out thiere. Educate yourself about what the founders did and why they did it. Hint it was about the the god given rights of freedom, the pursuit of happiness and preventing the tyranny of govt !!!

  18. REAL National Security comes when all the citizens of a nation have a stake in their nation’s future. A place where humanity has access to fair wages, jobs that are inclusive and have real meaning, a clean and cared for environment, repect for individuals and a civility in exchanging ideas. There is no “divine right” to any group, and if you look at many of the past Gilded Age movers and shakers, those people were immigrants who started at the bottom. The “Melting Pot” built America, not the phony bluebloods of the Mayflower. We welcome the 1% to return to sanity, because you might have some power, but we are the base, and without us, you topple. : )

  19. Unfortunately, we are being denied access to voice our concerns by the Corporate Media. This is the also a true travesty, as there once was a time when the Press stood with the Voices of actual reasoning. Now, they are nothing more than puppets to the Corporate Executives that only have their paychecks that make them follow the path they seek. We have numbers but have no Voice in the Media, because of the obstacles of Corporate Executive Management, that control the Airwaves.

    • Do you realize what power you have? 1. Turn off garbage media & only listen or watch meaningful media (PBS, progressive radio, international news)!
      2. More power is yours when you tell advertisers what you are doing.
      3. Use social media to share ideas – it is quicker & the most powerful of all.

      • Yes, if you really want the real story, you must discern the source & what the payoff is for it.

  21. The Bush/Reagan administration changed the nomenclature from middle and upper “income” to middle class. Don’t let that happen people. America is not structured as a caste or class system. Take back the wording. Use the fact that working people are wage earners and not defined according to “class”

  22. Just heard the news, today, that Medicare &
    Social Security will be running out of money
    even sooner than planned. The U.S. Postal
    Service may go bankrupt. Unemployment is
    still critically high. And, the banks won’t be
    approving mortgage applications for a very
    long time. The wealthy few, at the top, are
    stealing from the middle class, and leaving
    more of the poor impoverished. Significant
    numbers of people are below the poverty
    line, and members of the middle class are
    becoming poorer and poorer. What should
    we do? We must organize, and take back
    our country from the wealthy few!

    • !. Offer Medicare for all USA citizens (a single-payer system) & this will save Medicare. It will also
      create jobs: those who have postponed retirement because of high medical insurance, will now be able to retire.
      2. Social Security funding is an EASY fix – raise the cap on payroll deductions.
      3. The US Postal Service is an EASY fix – ammend the stupid law passed by Republicans in 2006 that makes the postal service prefund all health insurance benefits to retirees for 75 years beyond the present year.
      4. Unemployement will end when we elect Democrats (state AND Federal level), who are now trying to create jobs, but are obstructed by Republicans.
      5. Ignore the media hype: they are trying to control the masses (with fear, anger, or hopelessness).

  23. Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric of any of the current candidates. Look at their track record, that is the only thing that counts. Obama is just playing the “good cop” while the Republicans play the “bad cop” but they both get funded by the same donors. Obama is killing people with drones in countries we have no right being in. What kind of a person does that? Obama panders to Conservatives, and does not back up his policies with conviction. Demand high integrity of our leaders. Get money out of politics first and much will be improved. Impeach the Supreme Court justices that voted for Citizen’s United, they must be addled in the mind and not fit for public service.

  24. Ever since the days of George Washington, the gvernment was afraid of the masses. Today people MUST come togeather in masses to denounce what Wall Street is doing to our country. We should NEVER give up the fight, keep pushing them to the breaking point. If it means going to jail, so be it.
    We shall NEVER give up. keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing.

  25. I love to see people being involved in the direction our country is taking. I urge you to stay strong, have faith that, ultimately good will prevail & that we as a nation together, are far more potent than we perceive. As a nation divided, we will fall as all the others have done throughout history & this is the time of taking that crucial turn. I believe we must honor the opinions of others while realizing that they are all really just interesting points of view, including our own. Be passionate but don’t abandon compassion in the process. the legacy we leave will define who we are as a people, as a nation, as a part of the evolution of the human Be-ing. Peace & blessings to all of you for sharing your unique gift with the world, the gift of being you.

  26. Keep in mind many of the 99% are veterans affected by a country that talks of support of the troops yet calls them crazy or lazy or worthless for uniting when they lose their homes and futures to fight un-winnable wars financed and sold to the public by the establishment politians that many of you voted for. If you want real reform you must insist by boycott if necessary that the media and the press open up equally to all candidates for office regardless and perhaps inspite of money raised to give equal voice to all. The media feeds our ignorance and this becomes are true enemy. We must insist on a say and control of policy for this country we the voting public should be able to overule the Supreme Court decisions by 2/3 vote which means changes to the US constitution. It’s moves like these which will bring active and actual change. Financial markets and commodaties should be regulated broken up and reorganized to reflect both competion and support for business.

  27. Corporate greed and corrupt government has been going on a lot longer than the 99% realize. I was in the corporate arena in the early 1980s in California and obsserved firsthand at the annual shareholder’s meeting the big coverup that was presented by the Chairman and other execs. This Congress is one of the worst we have ever had and needs to go! I agree that we have a President who is articulate and intelligent, but had no idea of what he was getting into and what he would have to confront from the Republicans and Tea Party Members of Congress.

    getting into and would ha ve too confront

  28. If they want to be people, which is the status the misguided Supreme Court awarded them out of hand and out of any concern for our Constitution, then let them pay taxes like people. I paid almost 20%. Imagine if those corp-persons like Koch’s could be taxes at the same rate, with no off-shore etc. hiding places! Oh, the justice of it all… But will it ever happen until we recon-figure the Supreme Court with justices concerned with constitutionality and nothing else?

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